When visiting Osaka during your trip to Japan’s Kansai region, it’s not just the shopping that deserves your attention: trying okonomiyaki is a must! With so many okonomiyaki restaurants in the city, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the choices. That’s why we’ve carefully selected five top-rated places near central Umeda Station, ranging from long-standing local favorites to trending spots with rave reviews.

What is okonomiyaki? How do you eat it like a local?

Known as “Japan’s Kitchen,” Osaka is famous for its wide variety of local comfort foods. Even among these, okonomiyaki stands out as one of the city’s most beloved and iconic dishes.

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is made by mixing chopped cabbage, meat, seafood, and other ingredients into a flour-based batter, which is then grilled on a hot iron plate. The word okonomi means “as you like it,” because okonomiyaki is a dish that can be customized with whatever filling ingredients and toppings you like.

The typical way to enjoy okonomiyaki is to sit at a counter seat with a hotplate where the chef can cook the dish right in front of you. You then cut it into bite-sized pieces using a small metal spatula. When sharing with family or friends, people often cut it into a grid so everyone can take a piece. You can also enjoy a variety of toppings like sauce, mayonnaise, seaweed flakes, and bonito flakes, and some places even provide spices like shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven-spice blend) for you to add to taste.

Okonomiyaki’s Delicious History

The beginning of okonomiyaki goes all the way back to the Nara period (710–794). It’s said to have begun when Japanese envoys returning from Tang Dynasty China brought back with them the practice of eating senbei, or rice crackers. The earliest predecessor of okonomiyaki developed as a dish called fu-no-yaki (literally, grilled wheat gluten), one of the tea snacks served by Sen no Rikyu, the legendary 16th century tea ceremony master.

By the end of the Edo period (1853–1868), cooking with flour-based batter on iron plates had spread in popularity among the general public. In the late Meiji period (1905–1912), a version of such a dish that included cabbage and sauce called yoshoku-yaki (literally, “grilled Western food”) emerged and gradually evolved into the many varieties of okonomiyaki we enjoy today.

By the 1960s, restaurants in Osaka began promoting the dish as a regional specialty, which helped okonomiyaki spread across Japan and even overseas. Today, it’s a proud symbol of Osaka’s konamon (flour-based) food culture.

Now, let’s take a look at five okonomiyaki restaurants you have to try near Umeda Station!

5 Top Okonomiyaki Restaurants Near Umeda Station

Chibo

Founded in 1973 in Osaka’s Sennichimae district, Chibo is a famous okonomiyaki chain with numerous locations across Japan and abroad. The biggest draw is their batter, made with domestically grown wheat, that makes for a pancake that’s crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The batter is handmade in-store every day, ensuring strict quality control and consistent flavor. Chibo’s rich, original sauce is also a standout that’ll get you hooked after just a mouthful!

Chibo’s HERBIS PLAZA location, in a mall directly connected to Umeda Station, offers a spacious and pristine dining area with both counter and table seating. Their menu includes both set meals and à la carte options. The signature dish, Chibo-yaki, is packed with lush ingredients like pork, beef, whole shrimp, squid, and octopus for a truly satisfying plate. Another highlight of the dining experience here is the staff’s dramatic performance of drizzling mayonnaise from high above your plate for a theatrical touch to the meal.

If you like yakisoba (grilled noodles), you may want to try their Chibo yakisoba as well. Chibo is a great place to sample the flavors of Osaka, whether it’s with okonomiyaki or yakisoba.

Fukutaro

Originally based in Osaka’s Namba area, Fukutaro is a hugely popular okonomiyaki restaurant that draws long lines from both Japanese locals and international tourists. You can enjoy the same flavors at their location in GRAND FRONT OSAKA SHOPS & RESTAURANTS near Umeda Station!

Every seat in the restaurant is a counter seat with a built-in hotplate. In the open kitchen, you can see up close how the chefs skillfully prepare the ingredients and cook the food. In this immersive atmosphere, you can't help but feel excited while waiting for your food to be cooked!

The standout feature of Fukutaro’s okonomiyaki is its light and fluffy texture. Their main dishes include okonomiyaki, negiyaki (a similar pancake-like dish that features scallions), and yakisoba noodles. You’ll definitely want to try their mixed okonomiyaki, made with pork, shrimp, and squid. Crispy on the outside and soft inside, it’s topped with house-made sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and seaweed, for a perfectly balanced mouthful of flavor.

If you’re a fan of scallions, you need to try the negiyaki. The batter is packed with scallions, giving this okonomiyaki cousin a crispy, fragrant exterior and a fluffy interior in which the scallions still keep their crunchy texture. It's a dish that will keep you coming back for more.

Okonomiyaki Seijuro

In the food hall on the B2 floor of the HANKYU SANBAN GAI shopping mall’s North Building, you’ll find Okonomiyaki Seijuro, a restaurant known for its superb okonomiyaki.

Okonomiyaki Seijuro’s biggest feature is a special dashi (broth) mixed into the batter, which is carefully simmered for maximum flavor. Carefully chosen, quality ingredients pair beautifully with Seijuro’s slightly sweet house sauce, so you can enjoy a deep, rich taste and pleasant texture. Their most popular dish, the Seijuro Special Okonomiyaki, is packed with flavorful octopus, Nichinan Mochi Pork from Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture; shrimp, spear squid, and beef abura-kasu (a local Osaka specialty made from rendered beef fat).

In addition to okonomiyaki, they also serve a variety of dishes like takoyaki and yakisoba, all of which are popular among locals. Every item on the menu is satisfying and sure to leave you both full and happy.

Tsuruhashi Okonomiyaki Omoni

Originally from Osaka’s Tsuruhashi area, Omoni is an okonomiyaki restaurant that’s especially known for its popularity amongst celebrities. It’s also highly-rated on the Japanese restaurant review site, Tabelog, so you can be sure it’s a quality spot. While their main location is near Tsuruhashi’s Koreatown, you can also enjoy their flavors in Osaka’s central Umeda area at GRAND FRONT OSAKA SHOPS & RESTAURANTS shopping mall.

“Omoni” means “mother” in Korean, and just like the name suggests, the secret to its popularity is the comforting, home-cooked taste that you’ll never tire of, no matter how many times you eat it. What sets Omoni’s okonomiyaki apart is its extremely thinly sliced cabbage and batter made with a minimal amount of flour. This lets you really savor the cabbage’s natural sweetness and crisp texture, and brings out the full flavor of the ingredients

Omoni’s menu features a wealth of over 35 items, but you’ll have to try their signature Omoni-yaki, a luxurious okonomiyaki loaded with pork, squid, shrimp, and even scallops - ingredients not often found in other restaurants.

BOTEJYU®

Founded in 1946, BOTEJYU® is one of Osaka’s most historic okonomiyaki restaurants and has been beloved by locals for generations. The name comes from the sounds of flipping and grilling the pancake: BOTE and JYU.

In addition to their signature sauce, their original white mayonnaise is a key flavor element. In fact, BOTEJYU® was the first to popularize topping hot okonomiyaki with mayonnaise! They’re also the originators of the modan-yaki—a hybrid of okonomiyaki and yakisoba.

Their top dishes include The Original Okonomiyaki, the Founding Modan-yaki, and the 80-Year Secret Sauce Yakisoba Fried Noodles, which has been served unchanged since the restaurant’s early days. Their yakisoba uses house-made, aged, extra-thick noodles with a chewy, springy texture that’s incredibly satisfying. It’s a dish that really shows BOTEJYU®’s commitment to quality.

For more details on how to get to Umeda, see here.

For more information on Umeda, check out some of our Trip Ideas.

*Information in this article is accurate as of the date of posting. There is a possibility that details regarding these products and services have changed, or that some shops have since closed.